TRANS: Transgender life stories from South Africa

TRANS: Transgender life stories from South Africa takes the reader on a journey into the many worlds inhabited by transgender South Africans. The life stories recounted in this collection are both inspiring and compelling and reveal the courage and strength of each of the story tellers involved. The narratives detail the constant challenges of living in a country that, despite its progressive Constitution, is still host to myriad prejudices and misunderstandings when it comes to trans people.

With more than twenty original voices from the trans community in South Africa, the book is a journal of shared experiences for trans people and a fascinating point of departure for interested members of the general public. The contributors who ‘transitioned, are transitioning or will transition’, have all been actively involved in the process of making the book and have a great deal to say about their personal experiences of being transgender today. Their illuminating and touching life stories are complemented by the extraordinary photographs by renowned photographer, Robert Hamblin.

Many of the stories collected here touch on the isolation that transgender people often feel in their communities. Transgender issues are a taboo subject for discussion, which are either ignored by the media, or covered in an invasive, insensitive and sensationalist way. The stories stress the need to provide accurate information, counter negative stereotypes, reduce discrimination, provide transgender people with honest representations of their lives, and offer visible, positive role models.

This book brings us all a small step closer to a future where no young transgender person in South Africa grows up in isolation and despair.

About the Editors Ruth Morgan is currently a freelance researcher and writer. She was the director of Gay and Lesbian Memory in Action (GALA) from 2002–2008. She has a PhD in linguistic anthropology from The American University, Washington D.C. Her work has focused on collecting and analysing life stories of LGBTI and Deaf people for the past twenty years.

Charl Marais is the secretary of the Gender Dynamix Board. Charl is a trans man and a journalist.

Joy Wellbeloved, known as ‘The Cat Lady’, is employed by her four cats. Retired from the IT industry, she spends her time reading, listening to classical music, and dreaming of taking stunning wildlife photographs. Joy is a trans woman who transitioned in 1985.